On

The controversy surrounding the prosecutor general’s resignation can only be put to rest out of the public eye, said Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky, as he asked the media not to dwell on the subject.

In a phone-interview for a talk show aired on the privately owned Al-Hayat TV channel, Mekky said that he had received documents related to Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah’s resignation. He added that the judiciary should be respected and no one should intervene in its affairs.

"I call on all media personnel, ministers and citizens not to dwell on the relation between judges, because they are one family, and that would [disgrace] the judiciary across the whole world," Mekky said.

The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) issued a statement following an urgent meeting Thursday regarding Abdallah's request to cancel the resignation letter he submitted on Monday. Abdallah had resigned last week after pressure from judges and prosecutors who accused him of intervening in the investigations of the clashes between President Mohamed Morsy's supporters and opponents near the presidential palace earlier in December.

Abdallah was appointed to his position after Morsy who sacked his predecessor, accusing him of being an old regime loyalist. The sacking of the former prosecutor raised concerns about the intervention of the president in judicial matters, as in the Mubarak era.

A meeting to discuss Abdallah's resignation was scheduled for Sunday, but the council held an emergency session Thursday to discuss the cancellation request.

The council decided to refer the issue to the minister of justice, the SJC's statement said.